Strathcona Park
(At the corner of Laurier and Range Street)
Written by Bytown Museum
on
03/Dec/2009
The area that today is Strathcona Park was once home to a rifle range and a golf course – one can only imagine how the two groups got along.
The Dominion of Canada Rifle Association operated its national range, named the Rideau Range, on the site in the late 1800s. In the 1890s, the Royal Ottawa Golf Club opened its first course nearby; it was reputed to be a daunting nine-hole course. The club moved to Chelsea not long after.
The area was turned into a park shortly after the Boer War and was named for Lord Strathcona, who financed his own regiment during the war. It was Lord Strathcona who donated the beautiful fountain still found at the park's north end.
Today, one of the park's most notable features is the play structure designed by artist Stephen Brathwaite. The artist designed the structure to resemble building ruins, and had it built with blocks of stone from the Parliament Buildings and the Château Laurier.
